(a) research/education organizations and
(b) public authorities in a local/regional level.
The main idea (objective) of the project is to implement activities for the protection of the BSB area from earthquakes and the mitigation of their results. Having a target like this, the project proposes new innovative ways based on new technologies that will be developed in order to support the main objective. These innovations will form pilot actions that will be jointly mplemented/tested in the project framework. The most appropriate legal bodies to carry out innovative approaches on earthquakes protection are research institutions. That’s why the Natural Hazards Research Center, (Romania) and the Assen Zlatarov University (Bulgaria) will share the responsiblity of two pilot actions.
However, this joint pilot action needs to be tested. The platform for this testing and evaluation process will be offered by the local authorities in Turkey and Greece. Thus, BOLU AFAD and the Municipality of Pella will provide two different levels of evaluation in the BDB area; Bolu in a regional level as it is a regional government body while Pella in a local one. All four partners are indeed needed for the implementation of the project and they are complementing each other, safeguarding the high quality of the results.
LEAD PARTNER
The Natural Hazards Research Center lies in the Subcarpathians of Buzau, one of the most active seismic units in Europe. Being a part of the Institute of Geography, Romanian Academy, it has a great expertise in studying man-environment relations . IGAR has been engaged in different international /European research projectse.g. Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe, FP7, FP6, Interreg Europe, World Bank, Romanian Academy Grants. Its main responsibility in the project will be the development of a VR Lab that will represent the data related to the eartquakes characteristic in an innovative way, using a Virtual Reality environment, which is the part of the pilot action targeting the policy makers and the research community. This new means of representation will support the decision making as the complicated data related to earthquakes will be presented vividly in a comprehesive way and simultaneously for all the involved stakeholders. The Research Center will also carry out an earthquake risk assessment survey of the BSB area, training and disemmination actions. This is the reason why it was decided to be the Lead Partner of this project and monitor the whole partnership.
PARTNER 2
The Governorate of Bolu includes the Directorate of Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate which is responsible for reducing disaster damages, taking precautions and reducing their effects. It is an institution focused on risk management and in effective and reliable service delivery. It is also strong at international level, coordinating effectively with all institutions in other countries involved in disaster management. It has a lot of disaster risk management experience in the past, even in the current year with a personnel of 43 people. Bolu AFAD is responsible for carrying out training events for local stakeholders and support the volunteers’ training in the best possible way. It will also test the pilot action jointly with PB3. Its capacity is supported further using the collaboration of the European Union Projects Bureau of the Governorship.
PARTNER 3
The Municipality of Pella is responsible for the application of civil protection measurements in a local level, based on its human resources that count more than 70 people and its territoarial influence, as it is one of the biggest Municipalities in the Region of Central Macedonia. According to the Greek Law, it is responsible for the community’s awareness for earthquakes, the consitution of volunteers’ teams and the preparation of the urban space that will be used as a host area for people that might get homeless in a disaster. In the project, it will focus on networking and awareness (trainings for rescue teams, courses for school students & constitution of a volunteers’ team). It will also test and evaluate the pilot actions of the project and it will carry out a pilot research for a residential unit after earthquakes with data from all countries involved in BSB programme (the other partners will organise workshops for the support of this research).
PARTNER 4
The Assen Zlatarov University is the only state higher education institution in south-eastern Bulgaria. It provides education in four areas of science: social, natural, technical and medical sciences. It has already implemented a series of research projects in various programmes. It is the main partner responsible partner for developing an app for better earthquake preparedness, which is the one of the pilot actions. It will also implement trainings for volunteers and students and carry out a scientific conference on earthquakes in the BSB area.